Healing
Healing of both physical and spiritual sickness is an
important part of Christ's ministry.
It's in the Bible, Matthew 4:23, TLB. "Jesus traveled
all through Galilee teaching in the Jewish synagogues, everywhere
preaching the Good News about the Kingdom of Heaven. And He healed
every kind of sickness and disease."
Physical healing is not the most important gift God
can give.
It's in the Bible, Matthew 9:2, TLB. "Soon some men
brought Him a paralyzed boy on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, He
said to the sick boy, 'Cheer up, son! For I have forgiven your
sins!"
Physical healing takes place because God wants to
heal us spiritually.
It's in the Bible, Matthew 9:6, NIV. " 'But so that you
may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive
sins'…Then He said to the paralytic, 'Get up, take your mat and go
home.'"
Spiritual healing is provided by Christ's death for
our sins.
It's in the Bible, Isaiah 53:4-5, TLB. "Yet it was our
grief He bore, our sorrows that weighed Him down. And we thought His
troubles were a punishment from God, for His own sins! But He was
wounded and bruised for our sins. He was chastised that we might
have peace; He was lashed—and we are healed."
Healing miracles validated the ministry of the early
church.
It's in the Bible, Acts 5:16, TLB. "And crowds came in
from the Jerusalem suburbs, bringing their sick folk and those
possessed by demons; and every one of them was healed."
While miracles are a sign of God's ministry, one
needs to be alert, for Satan can perform miracles too.
It's in the Bible,
Revelation 16:14, NIV. "They are spirits of demons performing
miraculous signs and they go out to the kings of the whole world, to
gather them for the battle of the great day of God Almighty."
The miraculous never cancels the need for personal
faith.
It's in the Bible, John 20:29-31, TLB. "Then Jesus told
him, 'You believe because you have seen Me. But blessed are those
who haven't seen Me and believe anyway.' Jesus’ disciples saw Him do
many other miracles besides the ones told about in this book, but
these are recorded so that you will believe that He is the Messiah,
the Son of God, and that believing in Him you will have life."
Obeying God's instructions brings healing.
It's in the Bible, Exodus 15:26, TLB. "If you will
listen to the voice of the Lord your God, and obey it, and do what
is right, then I will not make you suffer the diseases I send on the
Egyptians, for I am the Lord who heals you."
God can provide healing for terminal illnesses.
It's in the Bible, Psalm 107:20, TLB. "He spoke, and
they were healed—snatched from the door of death."
The prayer of faith, symbolized by anointing with
oil, brings healing.
It's in the Bible, James 5:14-15, TLB. "Is anyone sick?
He should call for the elders of the church and they should pray
over him and pour a little oil upon him, calling on the Lord to heal
him. And their prayer, if offered in faith, will heal him, for the
Lord will make him well; and if his sickness was caused by some sin,
the Lord will forgive him."